File photo shows a suspected COVID-19 patient taken to an isolation tent at Gat Andres Bonifacio Memorial Medical Center in Tondo, Manila. (RICHARD A. REYES)
MANILA, Philippines — As COVID-19 cases increase in Metro Manila, Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) Chairman Benhur Abalos on Monday said more schools and hotels must be tapped as isolation facilities.
Abalos said that isolation facilities in Metro Manila are currently 70 percent full as of August 18, prompting him to ask the Department of Education (DepEd) and the Office of Civil Defense (OCD) for additional schools and hotels to be utilized.
“We are now trying to ask help from the OCD to open up more hotels, I’m writing a letter right now again—I would like to request DepEd to open up more schools for isolation facilities,” Abalos said in an online event.
The national government, Abalos said, already had reserved schools used as isolation facilities. He, however, stressed the need for additional facilities following the recent increase in cases caused by the Delta variant.
MMDA Chairman Benhur Abalos (Image from the MMDA website)
“We didn’t foresee that the surge would be this huge,” Abalos said.
“Right now we’re still coping, we’ve got 30 percent reserved, but we’re still preparing in the event that there will be more surges in the future,” Abalos said.
Abalos said hotels currently being used as isolation facilities are at 92 percent occupancy as of August 21.
“This is being run by the Office of the Civilian Affairs and we’re also requesting for more hotels just as a reserve for the future,” Abalos said.